Author: Kanayan Tamar

THE ARMENIAN CHURCH IN MYANMAR AND ITS INDIAN PRIEST

17:39, 17 Oct 2014

Alisa Gevorgyan
Public Radio of Armenia

His Holiness Karekin II, Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, paid his first ever visit to Myanmar October 1-5. Fr.

Paruyr Avetisyan, Director of the Intra Church Relations Department
of the Mother Seer of Holy Etchmiadzin told reporters today that the
authorities of the country gave a warm welcome to the Cotholicos.

Within the framework of the visit the Patriarch met with
representatives of the Armenian community.

The issue of the Armenian Church of St John the Baptist seems to have
been solved. Remind that “Father” John Felix, as the sign in the street
outside calls him, had taken over the running of the church. A Burmese
man of Indian extraction, he claimed to be an ordained Anglican priest
which would, with the Armenians’ permission, give him the right to
perform religious services.

The Anglican Church says, however, that he has never been a priest and
does not have the authority to perform religious services. Fr. Paruyr
Avetisyan said the Mother See never knew about Felix because Myanmar
is a rather closed country, and Armenia has no priest there.

“John Felix’ father was a priest of the Anglican Church and served
in the Armenian Church for a long time. After father’s death, Felix Jr.

conducted the religious services until the visit of His Holiness
Karekin II to Myanmar,” he added. It was announced that an Armenian
priest based in Calcutta would be flying in every weekend to conduct
services. His Holiness also conducted a service at the Church.

In the early 17th century, large numbers of Armenians fled the
Ottoman Empire and settled in Isfahan in what’s now Iran. From there,
many traveled on in later years to form a commercial network, which
stretched from Amsterdam to Manila.

Their influence in the British Raj reached its peak in the late 19th
Century, when census records suggest that about 1,300 Armenians were
living principally in Calcutta, Dhaka and Rangoon.

Their closeness to the Burmese royal court gave them a particularly
privileged status in Rangoon’s trading community. The land on which
the church stands is said to have been presented to the Armenians by
Burma’s king.

DEFENSE MINISTRY WILL TAKE INTO ACCOUNT PROS AND CONS OF MPS AND PUBLIC WHEN DRAFTING FINAL VERSION OF ITS BUDGET FOR 2015

YEREVAN, 17 October. / ARKA /. The Armenian defense ministry will take
into account the pros and cons of parliamentarians and the public at
large when drafting the final version of its budget for 2015, defense
minister Seyran Ohanyan said on Friday during a parliamentary hearing
on “Planning for defense budgeting and effective cost control.”

He stressed that his agency has never avoided parliamentary or public
hearings on the armed forces, when the army may be criticized harshly.

“This criticism is sometimes objective and sometimes biased, but we
never avoid public hearings because in order to solve our problems
we must also listen to public opinion, to get our parliament involved
in this process,” he said.

The minister said he always tries to be personally present at such
discussions and following them he convenes the army brass for seeking
solutions to problems voiced. He said the reforms in the army are
not an imitation.

“We really work, and if something does not work there are obvious
reasons behind it, which we can overcome by getting the parliament
and the public at large involved in this process,” said the minister.

The preliminary version of the 2015 budget approved by the government
on September 25 calls for 1.184 trillion drams in revenue and 1.298
trillion drams in spending. The projected budget deficit is 114.1
billion drams. ($ 1 – 409.3 drams) -0-

SOS AMULSAR INITIATIVE’S OPEN LETTER TO ECONOMY MINISTER KAREN CHSHMARITYAN – ECOLUR

16:42 | October 17,2014 | Social

By EcoLur

“Dear Mr. Minister,

At the press conference on 15 October you stated that the factual
implementation of Amulsar open pit mining project will be launched
in early 2015 and presented certain figures, expected investments etc.

We would like to draw your attention to the fact that currently
the documentation package on Amulsar project, including the EIA,
is undergoing environmental expert assessment at “Environmental
Expertise” SNCO of Nature protection Ministry, which hasn’t been
accomplished so far.

The whole process is supposed to have independent nature and Amulsar
project may be issued not positive, but negative opinion, for example,
if the risks outlined in the EIA are underestimated or don’t comply
with reality or pose threats to the strategic interests of the
country. These very risks are laid down in the complaints of 9 public
representatives lodged to the CAO. These two influential financial
institutions are the main investors of Lydian International Company
having submitted Amulsar project into “Environmental Expertise” SNCO.

Thus, your public statement made before the environmental expert
assessment accomplishes, casts doubts both on the relevance and
impartiality of the EIA process on Amulsar project.”

This open letter has been dispatched to the CAO office OF IFC and
EBRD as well.

Signed by

Inga Zarafyan, “EcoLur” Informational NGO

Levon Galstyan, Pan-Armenian Environmental Front

Silva Adamyan, Center for Bird Lovers

Vazgen Galstyan, Center for Jermuk Development

Tehmine Yneoqyan, “Lragir” journalist

Sona Ayvazyan, enviromental policy expert, TIAC deputy director

Artur Grigoryan, “Ecoright” NGO

REMEMBRANCE, GRATITUDE, RECOGNITION AND REBIRTH: KEY DEMANDS AHEAD OF GENOCIDE CENTENNIAL

16:12 * 17.10.14

The commemoration ceremonies dedicated to the 100th anniversary
of the Armenian Genocide will focus on four key directions, Vigen
Sargsyan, the head of the Presidential Staff and the coordinator of
the centennial events, said today.

The first is the memory of the Armenian victims, “our heritage which
requires a great deal of work to be returned,” he told reporters at
the Genocide Museum-Institute which hosted the presentation of the
book “Armenian Genocide: Front page coverage in the world press”
(by Hayk Demoyan, the Institute’s director).

The second direction is gratitude. “One hundred years ago, it was
exceptionally unimaginable to raise one’s voice for another or stand
by him at the moment of plight. As we thumb through this album, we see
what large-scale assistance was offered to our people. Individuals,
institutions, organizations and states raised their voice to stand
by us,” he said, considering the anniversary a good occasion to thank
all those who were afraid to lend a helping hand to the Armenians at
the difficult moment.

The third direction is strengthening the Armenian nation’s role in
the international genocide recognition efforts, Sargsyan noted. “We
must have our participation in the international campaign towards
combating crimes against humanity. The theme is as never before
actual today against the backdrop of the crimes committed against
the Christians and the other minorities in the Middle East,” he said,
adding that rebirth is the last direction.

“It is one thing to survive the genocide and quite another to rise
again. Looking back, we see that we have many things to be proud of.

We not only survived but also managed to lay the foundations of an
independent statehood and win the war imposed on us,” Sargsyan said.

Armenian News – Tert.am

MELIK-SHAHNAZARYAN: ROBERT WALTER HAS NO RIGHT TO ENTER KARABAKH

Friday,
October
17

The PACE decision of October 2 contradicts international law, truth
and justice, the political scientist Levon Melik-Shahnazaryan said at
a press conference in Yerevan today when commenting on the preparation
of the report titled “Escalation of Violence in Nagorno Karabakh and
Other Occupied Territories of Azerbaijan”.

“In this case silence means complicity in the crime. We have no right
to keep silent. Both the state and citizens should struggle against
it,” the expert said.

In his words, he is surprised at the silence in Armenia over these
events.

Melik-Shahnazaryan said the Armenian delegation did their best,
but the decision was taken prior to the sitting and what happened on
October 2 was in violation of international law.

According to him, a statement was made in the Nagorno Karabakh
Republic that British MP Robert Walter who shall prepare the report
by a decision of the PACE Political Affairs Committee has no right
to enter the territory of NKR.

ARMENIA DRAWS MEDIATORS’ ATTENTION TO CEASEFIRE VIOLATIONS BY AZERBAIJAN

KARABAKH | 17.10.14 | 14:03

Armenian Foreign Minister Edward Nalbandian on Thursday received the
OSCE Minsk Group Co-Chairs, Igor Popov (Russia) and Pierre Andrieu
(France), and Ambassador Andrzej Kasprzyk, the Personal Representative
of the OSCE Chairman-in-Office. (The U.S. co-chair of the group,
James Warlick did not arrive in the region this time because of
“a family emergency”).

The sides discussed the latest developments in the Nagorno-Karabakh
peace process, and the ongoing preparations for the meeting of the
presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan to be hosted by their French
counterpart Francois Hollande in Paris later this month.

According to the Armenian MFA’s press service, FM Nalbandian drew the
co-chairs’ attention to the fact that the Azerbaijani armed forces’
ceasefire violations have multiplied, and that this has become
official Baku’s usual practice ahead of high-level meetings dealing
with Karabakh conflict settlement.

The top Armenian diplomat noted that, on the one hand, Azerbaijan is
attempting to shift Karabakh peace talks onto other platforms, and
on the other hand, it is trying to break down the ongoing negotiation
process under the auspices of the OSCE Minsk Group co-chairmanship.

The minister stressed that, in this way, Azerbaijan shows that it is
not ready for a settlement.

Nalbandian also stated that “Azerbaijan makes fabricated statements,
and this proves that this country once again shows its casual approach
in the lead-up to the forthcoming meeting in Paris.”

The international mediators had arrived in Armenia from Azerbaijan
where they also met with high-ranking officials. They made a crossing
into Armenia on foot from Azerbaijan after participating in an OSCE
ceasefire monitoring mission.

ARMENIAN CHURCH IN MYANMAR RE-ANOINTED

14:23, 17 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS. The issue of the ancient Christian
holy site of Myanmar – St. John the Baptist Armenian Church in
Rangoon is in the centre of the attention of the Mother See of Holy
Etchmiadzin. At the course of his visit to Myanmar on October 1-5,
His Holiness Karekin II, the Supreme Patriarch and Catholicos of All
Armenians, tried to find out the solution out of the current situation
with the local authorities, when a defrocked self-constituted pastor
of the Anglican Church took control over the Armenian church.

Father Paruyr Avetisyan, the Director of the Office for the Mother See
Chancellery Inter-Church Relations, stated this at the course of the
press conference held in the press centre of “Armenpress” News Agency.

Among other things, Father Avetisyan noted that Fr. Zaven Yazichian
will visit the church each Sunday or once in two weeks and celebrate
holy liturgy in the church.

THIS WEEK’S NEW THEATRE

The Infidel – The Musical | The Gamblers | The Witch Of Edmonton |
The Small Hand | Off | Belfast Festival At Queens

Mark Cook & Lyn Gardner The Guardian, Friday 17 October 2014 12.00 BST

The Infidel – The Musical, London

Kev Orkian in The Infidel – The Musical. Photograph: Tristram Kenton

Turning films into musicals is nothing new (witness the imminent
opening of Made In Dagenham) but, along with The Producers and The Book
Of Mormon, this is part of another more recent trend: marrying music
and dubious taste to religious themes. David Baddiel has penned the
book and lyrics here, with Erran Baron Cohen composing the music (so
you know that subversion is the key note). It’s the tale of Mahmoud,
an ordinary East End Muslim who discovers not only that he was adopted
but that his birth parents were Jewish, causing not a little cultural
and religious chaos. The role played by Omid Djalili on screen is
taken by Armenian comedian Kev Orkian.

Theatre Royal Stratford East, E15, to 2 Nov

MC

“CHESS AT SCHOOL” BECOMES ARMENIA’S EDUCATIONAL BRAND

11:14, 17 October, 2014

YEREVAN, OCTOBER 17, ARMENPRESS: For the first time “Chess at School”
international conference has launched in Yerevan with participation
of 180 delegates from 30 countries Armenpress reports.

According to Armenian Minister of Education and Science Armen
Ashotyan, for Armenia the chess is the part of the national pride and
if previously it was only a sport, beginning from 2011 it has become
a compulsory subject at school.

“Armenia is the first country that has included the chess in the
curriculum as a compulsory subject. The Armenian practice is exclusive
and from the very beginning we have created a new, competitive program,
which we are ready to share with the world. For the first time Armenia
can propose to the world the best educational practice.

“Chess at School” project has become one of the educational brands of
Armenia,” said Armen Ashotyan, adding that the chess highly contributes
to development of leadership in children, strategic way of thinking,
improves the logic, develops new capacities.

“We do not claim that all pupils become world and European champions,
though we would not be against. Our goal is to improve children’s
academic perceptions and advance in other subjects through the chess.

Armenia is the first country in the world where the chess is taught in
secondary schools. The chess subject has been included in curriculums
of secondary schools of Armenia from 2011.

YEREVAN: BAKU’S STATEMENTS ONCE AGAIN SHOW AZERBAIJAN’S DALLIANCE WITH THE UPCOMING SARGSYAN – ALIYEV MEETING IN PARIS

by Tatevik Shahunyan

ARMINFO
Friday, October 17, 14:23

The upcoming meeting of Armenian and Azerbaijani leaders in Paris
was discussed at the meeting of the mediators and Foreign Minister
of Armenia Edward Nalbandian in Yerevan.

In this context, Minister Nalbandian said that Azerbaijan has
intensified ceasefire breaches ahead of the meeting, as it usually
does ahead of high-level meetings.

He said that Azerbaijan declares its commitment to the development
of a peace treaty, but still attempts to discuss the issue at other
international organizations, which torpedoes the work of the OSCE
Minsk Group co-chairs. “With its non-constructive steps Azerbaijan
shows that it is not ready to settle problems,” the minister said.

He drew the attention of the co-chairs at the statements Baku has
made on behalf of the mediators claiming that the OSCE MG, allegedly,
suggested to start negotiations around the elements meeting the
interests of Azerbaijan. “This once again shows Azerbaijan’s dalliance
with the upcoming meeting of the presidents in Baku,” Nalbandian
said and reaffirmed Armenia’s commitment to the peaceful resolution
of the Karabakh conflict under the aegis of the OSCE MG.